Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress the Government has made on establishing a new cross-government disability team.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
On 25 June the Government announced that a cross-government Disability Unit would be created. Since then the Cabinet Office has recruited officials from across government, including secondees from DWP, BEIS, DCMS, DfT, DHSC, MHCLG, MoJ and ONS.
Officials from the Office for Disability Issues in the Department of Work and Pensions will transfer to the new Disability Unit in November 2019. The Disability Unit will sit alongside the Government Equalities Office and the Race Disparity Unit in a new Cabinet Office Equalities Hub.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people have (a) opted out after being auto-enrolled into a workplace pension and (b) saved more than the auto-enrolment minimum contribution in Carshalton and Wallington constituency in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Automatic enrolment has achieved a quiet revolution through getting employees into the habit of pension saving, and reversing the decline in workplace pension participation in the decade prior to these reforms. Since automatic enrolment started in 2012 participation rates have been transformed with 87% of eligible employees saving into a workplace pension in 2018, up from 55% in 2012.
The Department does not hold data for individual constituencies in relation to opt outs or the number of individuals who have saved above the automatic enrolment minimum contribution level. However, we do know that overall around 9% of automatically enrolled workers have chosen to opt out which is significantly below original estimates; and our latest evaluation report shows that, in April 2017, approximately 5.9 million eligible employees were already meeting the April 2019 minimum contribution rates.
I am providing the following information about the impact of automatic enrolment in your constituency, as of August 2019:
In the Carshalton and Wallington constituency, since 2012, approximately 11,000 eligible jobholders have been automatically enrolled and 1,530 employers have met their duties.
Automatic Enrolment Evaluation Report 2018, available via the following weblink: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/764964/Automatic_Enrolment_Evaluation_Report_2018.pdf.
The Pensions Regulator’s data on Automatic enrolment declaration of compliance by constituency, available via the following weblink: https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/document-library/research-and-analysis/data-requests
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many UK Pensioners residing in the EU would not receive an up-rated pension after 2022-23 in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Government has been clear that leaving the EU with a deal is its preferred option.
The Government has put in place contingency plans for a range of exit scenarios. These contingencies ensure that DWP can continue to provide our vital services and that individuals will continue to be able to access DWP benefits and services on the same basis as they do now.
In the event that the UK exits the EU without a deal we will continue to pay annual increases for UK State Pension recipients living in the EEA for a further three years, until 2022-23. We plan to negotiate an agreement with the EU to continue to pay increases in the longer term.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for her policies of the Sustain Alliance’s report entitled, Brexit food resilience for the people who need it most; and what steps her Department has taken to establish a hardship fund to ensure that vulnerable people are not affected by the disruption highlighted in (a) that report and (b) Operation Yellowhammer.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The Government has been clear that leaving the EU with a deal is its preferred option.
The Government has put in place contingency plans for a range of exit scenarios. These contingencies ensure that DWP can continue to provide our vital services and that individuals will continue to be able to access DWP benefits and services on the same basis as they do now.
The Government is committed to providing a strong safety-net through the welfare system. We continue to spend over £95 billion a year on benefits for people of working age. DWP continues to monitor the effects of EU exit on the economy. Rates of benefits continue to be reviewed in line with the relevant legislation for uprating.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 10 July 2019 to Question 273727, whether her Department consulted (a) advice agencies and (b) disability charities on the wording of the revised ESA65B letters to employment and support allowance claimants’ GPs before authorising the use of that letter from 3 June 2019 onwards.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
We received comments from a number of sources, including the welfare benefits advice sector and disability charities, on the previous version of the ESA65B letter. We took this feedback into account when developing the revised letter.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 10 July 2019 to Question 273727, whether her Department has written to the GPs of all those employment and support allowance claimants whom her Department sent an ESA65B letter between August 2017 and 3 June 2019 to correct the advice that they no longer need to provide fit notes for patients.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
Prior to the revised ESA65B letter going live in June, GPs were reminded of all the circumstances in which fit notes may continue to be issued for those found fit for work. GPs were also sent a copy of the final version of the revised ESA65B.
The standing guidance for all GPs, clearly setting out the circumstances in which fit notes should be issued, has been in place since 2013. The guidance has always been clear that no further fit notes will be required unless the patient wishes to appeal the decision, their patient’s condition significantly worsens or they develop a new disability or condition.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many residents in the London Borough of Sutton are aged 75 or over; and what proportion of those people are (a) eligible for and (b) claiming pension credit.
Answered by Guy Opperman
Latest published information shows that in 2018, there were 14,502 residents in the London Borough of Sutton aged 75 or over.
This information is published and available at NOMIS:
Of this, 14% (2,084) claim Pension Credit.
This information is published and available at Stat-Xplore:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk
Guidance for users is available at:
https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html
The information requested on the proportion of those living in the London Borough of Sutton aged 75 or over and are eligible for pension credit is not available.
Official statistics on the take-up on income-related benefits at Great Britain level, which has estimated figures for recipients and entitled non-recipients, including Pension Credit, can be found in the ‘Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up in 2016 to 2017’ publication.